Harder than Shoveling Snow
Updating: The Eagles have made it very hard on themselves with miscues and mental lapses, but after an 8-play, 89-yard drive that gave them a 27-13 lead with 11:32 left, maybe all is finally well and the playoff berth is nailed down.
Shady McCoy got the TD on third and 1 from the 2.
Lots of snowballs flying now, Eagles fans hitting Eagles fans sitting below them. Hard to explain that. Do we know for sure the Gov is across the street at Comcast?
Earlier:The Eagles have a reserve tight end named Alex Smith., I've never seen him play quarterback, but I'm pretty sure if he did, he'd do it better than the Alex Smith who has thrown three picks in the first half this evening for the 49ers.
Smith is 7 for 17 for 61 yards and those three interceptions, all of which gives him an 11.8 passer rating. When your passer rating is lower than the snow accumulation, that's bad.
Eagles up 20-3 at the half. Haven't been particularly sharp on offense -- Donovan McNabb 13 for 25 for 179 yards, a real wounded duck of an interception and a touchdown, for a 71.9 rating. But it really, really hasn't mattered.
Oh yeah, LeSean McCoy broke Correll Buckhalter's team record of 586 rookie rushing yards.
Earlier: So the Eagles just drove 94 yards in 9 plays with a penalty, and things look much more stable at 14-3. Donovan McNabb looked like he wanted to stop and hail a cab midway through, but he managed to complete an 8-yard third-and-7 scramble for the TD. Michael Vick is out of the game with a thigh injury suffered on that play where he got the ungenerous third and 1 spot, the previous Eagles drive.
Previously: It was already a strange day, with the massive snow and the gametime change. It kept getting stranger after the game started. The Eagles got a 48-yard opening kickoff return from Quintin Demps and scored 5 plays later, on a 19-yard Donovan McNabb pass to DeSean Jackson. It was Jackson's shortest TD catch of the season.
Since then, of course, the Birds' offense has been able to do nothing right. Didn't take advantage of a Quintin Mikell pick. Tried and failed to convert fourth and 1 on its own 29, a decision that could have been a disaster, but Sheldon Brown stripped Delanie Walker and Asante Samuel recovered at the Eagles' 6.
So it's 7-3 Eagles early in the second.
Earlier: They are still shoveling snow from the seats at the Linc, as the sun sinks behind the south end zone. The Eagles have posted their inactives, and there are no surprises on the list: Corner Geoffery Pope, WR Jeremy Maclin, RB Brian Westbrook, G Stacy Andrews, OL Mike McGlynn, TE Martin Rucker, DT Trevor Laws and third quarterback Kevin Kolb. Rucker being inactive must mean Brent Celek's back feels pretty good.
The 49ers are not activating reserve tackle Chris Patrick, who was with the Eagles last season and in this season's training camp. San Francisco should be well-fortified for the game, having gotten 36 cheesesteaks delivered to their team hotel Saturday by Jon's Bar and Grille on South Street. The snowstorm eats were arranged by Colorado-based agent Peter Schaffer, who also represents several Eagles. Schaffer went to Franklin & Marshall with owner Jon Sarkisian.
Stay tuned for kickoff.